TEXARKANA, Ark. - Rice improved on its first-round score, carding a 296 team score on Monday at the Conference USA Golf Championship.

The Owls remain in 11th place following 36 holes of play and will look to move up in the standings when the tournament concludes with the final round Tuesday at Texarkana Country Club. Rice currently has a 605 team score.

Rice freshman Tommy Economou shot a second-round 73 on Tuesday to move into a tie for 25th at the conference championship. Economou has a two-round 149 score (+5) to lead the Owls.

"I was really proud of the guys," said Rice coach Justin Emil following Monday's play. "They beat almost every team in the field with their round today. We were very close to posting a season-best score if we could have just posted one more solid round. Tomorrow we need the same mindset and we should pass some teams."

First-round leader Memphis added a stroke to its Sunday lead and heads into the final round three strokes in front of second-place UCF, the defending tournament champion.

UCF's Greg Eason and Houston's Roman Robledo both fired 68s on Tuesday and share the individual lead after two rounds of play. Through 36 holes, both players have 138 scores (-6). Memphis' Jack Belote, the first-round co-leader, is one stroke back and tied for third with UTEP's Martin Simonsen.

Rice will be paired with Southern Miss for Tuesday's final round and the two teams will tee off beginning at 8 a.m. from No. 10. USM is currently in 10th place and is six strokes ahead of the Owls. Rice is just 10 strokes back of Marshall which is currently seventh.